Bird Photo Competition 1 2018 : Results
- Competition Winner : First Prize
- $641.60
- Judges Comment
- Owls are always a popular photographic subject and Snowy Owls have a particular attraction due to their striking plumage. To capture the most natural portrait of any animal, the best starting point is their natural habitat. In many cases, though, that's also the most challenging location, due to the lack of control over where, when, or even if your subject will appear. As this photo shows, though, the results can be more than worth the effort. For me, there are two key factors that make this image stand out: the fact that the photographer made the additional effort to go out during a snowfall, and the timing of the shot just after take-off, with a great pose and head angle.
- Photographers Comment
- Thank you very much for the prize to my picture! I am Marco Poggioni, from Italy. The shot was taken in Quebec, Canada in February. The weather was really cold, about -20 Celsius, and the snow was falling. Snowy Owls seem not to take care of the weather, and go catching mice or other little animals all time. I managed to take the picture with a dark background (a forest of firs) so as to bring out the owl and the falling snow. I took the photograph with a Nikon D4 paired up with a Sigma 150-600 Sport lens at 600mm.
- www.marcopoggioni.com
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- With so many diving Kingfisher images around these days, it's hard to find a different 'take' on this subject. This image achieves it by a combination of backlighting, raindrops and the timing to capture the instant of launch. The arched pose and perch make for a strong, dynamic composition.
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Good use of the 'rear curtain' photography technique to show both movement and detail in a single frame. The reflection and black background add to the graphic effect.
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- A picture of elegance, made by the lines and plumes of these courting grebes, accentuated by the red eye and yellow bill of the right hand bird.
- Photographers Comment
- My name is Anita Ross. I took these two Western grebes at Lake Hodges in Escondido, California. After years of the lake being low because of a lack of rain, last year for the first time in seven years the grebes found the conditions just right for bringing little grebes into the world. I'm hoping they will have chicks again this year. I was using my Canon 5D mark IV camera with a 2X extender on my 400 DO II lens.
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Clever use of a double exposure with different settings to show motion. It's easy to spend quite some time pairing up the gulls and pondering on their movements.
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Great tonal detail in the vulture, the perch and the sky create a dramatic effect.
- Mark Of Excellence
- Judges Comment
- Many bird photographers would have avoided the blurred foreground bird, but I like the way it takes the viewer into the Gannets' world.